Today I am posting this to address
a concern that I have for
myself and those with who I worship with…
“Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “ The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,”and “ A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…(I Peter 2:7-9)”
The greatest “BLESSING” that any one person can receive isn’t money, things, or the favor of man…it is the Salvation of your eternal soul…And it is this very thing that should cause us to walk with our head held high in this day and time. I had a young man ask me what it was like being a member of a group that was relegated to the status of a pariah…
As I stood there pondering his question, “What it was like being a member of a group that was relegated to the status of a pariah?” The thoughts immediately begin to race through my head, this young man didn’t have a clue as to how just on the mark he was…
Webster’s dictionary defines the word PARIAH –“one that is despised or rejected, an outcast of mainstream society” This is the perfect definition of the Truly sold out Born Again & Spirit filled Believer today. The greatest thing that separates us from the world is the very thing that causes the most controversy and OFFENCE…our TESTIMONY. This is what the Word of God tells us in John 3:17-21 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Because of your Testimony of Salvation you are “BLESSED” beyond your wildest imagination, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9)” The King James Version of the Bible uses the word “BLESSED” approximately 310 times. Why would it not enter into the hearts of the mankind that they are so “BLESSED”? Because they have never had the light of Salvation turned on for them…
But because you have now become the Heir of Salvation, they don’t accept you and you have become the “pariah” and you have become the odd man out…the strange one the freak in the crowd…There is a whole new you that the don’t know how to deal with, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature…(II Corinthians 5:17)”…“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name…(John 1:12)”
And we have been called for a specific time and purpose but a lot of people have forgotten that…they have made their home here…and forgotten that this world is no longer their home… “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1-2)”
We are indeed “too blessed to be stressed…” we have been called out to be different than everyone else, and be different from the World and the way it operates. This is why the Apostle Paul tells us in Titus 2:13-15, “…looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.”
If anyone had a grasp on how truly “BLESSED” that we are, I believe the Apostle Paul did. He tells us in Romans 8, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Romans 8:1-17)”
We have been CREATED to be BLESSED by God…and we are different because we have been commanded, commissioned & created to be so. If you remember from your Biology or Science classes in High School or College you learned about the Genus (which is the type of something…) and the Phylum (which is the classification of that something…). For example my Wife and Daughter have two little (GENUS) dogs, and they are loud (PHYLUM) Chihuahuas …
This is what the Apostle Peter was getting at in our opening passage, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
(I Peter 2:9)” This is the GENUS & PHYLUM of the Born Again Spirit Filled Believer…The Apostle Pault took it a step further when he said, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)”
Do Not Forget!!!!
Whose & Who You are in Christ!
Be Blessed My Brothers & Sisters
Pastor Jay